N.J. Stat. tit. 51, ch. 9

in effect

N.J. Stat. § 51:9-1 Definitions

As used in this chapter: a. The words "liquid fuels" shall be deemed to mean and to include fuel in liquid form, which can or may be used for heating purposes; Provided, however, that oils shall not be included if they possess a flash point of one hundred five degrees Fahrenheit or lower, as determined by the Tagliabue closed cup tester or a Saybolt Universal Viscosity at one hundred degrees Fahrenheit higher than fifty-five seconds. b. The words "weights and measures official" shall be deemed to mean and to include any State, county or municipal superintendent, or assistant superintendent of weights and measures. Amended by L.1938, c. 323, p. 834, s. 1; L.1953, c. 48, p. 847, s. 23.

N.J. Stat. § 51:9-2 Only approved measuring devices to be used; certificate of approval

It shall be illegal to use or to employ any measuring device for use in the purchase or sale of any liquid fuel without the same first being approved as to type and construction by the state superintendent of weights and measures and calibrated, tested and sealed by any weights and measures official. The state superintendent of weights and measures shall provide a form of certificate to be issued by a weights and measures official after the approval, testing, calibration and sealing of any measuring device, which certificate shall expire one year from the date thereof following issuance thereof and shall be renewed annually. It shall be unlawful to sell or deliver or have in possession with intent to deliver any liquid fuel unless such certificate shall be in possession at all times or carried on the vehicle to which it applies.

N.J. Stat. § 51:9-3 § 51:9-3

All liquid fuel shall be sold by volume. The unit of volume shall be the standard United States gallon.

N.J. Stat. § 51:9-4 § 51:9-4

If the volume be calculated by weight, the net weight shall be determined by means of a scale of approved type and capacity, tested and sealed by any weights and measures official. For the conversion of weight to volume and for temperature corrections, the National Standard Petroleum Oil Tables as approved by the United States Bureau of Standards shall be used.

N.J. Stat. § 51:9-5 Measuring quantities between 50 and 10,000 gallons; exceptions

Each sale or delivery of liquid fuel exceeding 50 gallons but not exceeding 10,000 gallons shall be measured by means of a positive displacement liquid flow meter which has been tested and sealed as to its adjusting and recording elements by any weights and measures official; but this section shall not apply to liquid fuel sold in barrels or other containers upon which the quantity in terms of liquid measure is plainly and conspicuously marked, to liquid fuel sold to be delivered by the entire railroad tank car or cargo direct from the vessels, boats, or railroad tank cars or bulk tank trucks or compartments thereof containing the same to 1 destination and consigned to 1 person and accepted by the purchaser on the original bill of lading or invoice as proof of measurement or weight, or to the sale or delivery of liquid fuel which the State Superintendent of Weights and Measures determines does not by reason of its viscosity or other condition lend itself to metered measurement. Amended by L.1956, c. 109, p. 493, s. 1.

N.J. Stat. § 51:9-6 Measuring quantities over 10,000 gallons

Deliveries of quantities in excess of 10,000 gallons may be measured through a meter or from compartments which have been calibrated and whose indicators have been sealed by any weights and measures official. L.1937, c. 183, s. 6, p. 625. Amended by L.1956, c. 109, p. 494, s. 2.

N.J. Stat. § 51:9-7 Delivery tickets; duplicates; contents

A delivery ticket and duplicate thereof shall be issued upon the completion of delivery of each sale or delivery of liquid fuel exceeding 10 gallons. If the sale or delivery exceeds 50 gallons and is of a type of liquid fuel which is required to be measured by meter, the ticket shall be printed by means of an automatic printing device attached to and co-ordinated with the operating mechanism of a meter approved for the measurement of liquid fuels pursuant to the provisions of this chapter. On each ticket there shall be distinctly and legibly expressed the date, the name and address of the seller, the name and address of the purchaser, the number of gallons sold or delivered, the grade of liquid fuel, and the signature of the person making such sale or delivery or his agent. One of such tickets shall be given to the purchaser and the other shall be retained by the seller for a period of 1 year, such retained tickets being subject to inspection by any weights and measures official. Delivery tickets shall be serially numbered. No duplicate or retained ticket shall be destroyed but may be voided and kept on file. The provisions of this section shall not apply where there is a meter permanently attached and properly security sealed in the consuming apparatus of the consumer with the recording elements always available to him. In this situation, in lieu of a delivery ticket, there shall be rendered to the consumer by the seller a periodical statement of the amount of fuel delivered to him as indicated on the meter attached to his consuming apparatus. On notice to the seller a consumer may at any time elect to discontinue use of a meter attached to his consuming apparatus and to receive delivery tickets as in this section provided. Amended by L.1956, c. 109, p. 494, s. 3; L.1964, c. 21, s. 1.

N.J. Stat. § 51:9-8 § 51:9-8

It shall be unlawful after the approval, testing and sealing of any measuring device and equipment used in delivering liquid fuel, to adjust, repair or alter the same or to cause said measuring device and equipment to be adjusted, repaired or altered, unless approval of a weights and measures official is first obtained; and it shall be unlawful to remove any meter from the tank to which it is affixed at the time of testing and sealing to any other tank, unless immediate written notification is given to a weights and measures official advising of necessity of alterations or change.

N.J. Stat. § 51:9-9 § 51:9-9

No person shall deliver any liquid fuel without the same having been measured by a measuring device approved, tested and sealed in accordance with the provisions of this chapter, nor shall any person sell or deliver less than the quantity represented to be sold and delivered.

N.J. Stat. § 51:9-9.1 Residential oil fill pipe, regulations, violations, fees

a. The owner of any residential dwelling served by a home heating oil tank shall provide that the cap of any exterior heating oil fill pipe be colored green or that the tank fill pipe be equipped with a fill tightness system with a fill cap stamped or engraved in clear letters with the words "Fuel Oil." b. No person may pump, pour, or otherwise place home heating oil into any exterior heating oil tank fill pipe of a residential dwelling unit unless that pipe is capped with a tank fill pipe cap that is colored green, or unless the tank fill pipe is equipped with a fill tightness system with a fill cap stamped or engraved in clear letters with the words "Fuel Oil." c. A person who violates the provisions of this section is subject to a civil penalty not to exceed $500. The penalty may be collected in a summary proceeding brought pursuant to "the penalty enforcement law," (N.J.S.2A:58-1 et seq.). The Superior Court and the municipal court shall have jurisdiction to enforce the provisions of "the penalty enforcement law" in connection with this act. L.1991,c.163,s.1.

N.J. Stat. § 51:9-10 Rules and regulations

The State Superintendent of Weights and Measures shall make such rules and regulations governing the type of all measuring devices and equipment used in the delivery of liquid fuel, and the manner of approval, testing, or calibrating of the same and the mailing and preserving of the periodical statements of meter readings sent to purchasers having meters on their consuming apparatus, as he may deem necessary, in order to prevent the perpetration of fraud in the sale of liquid fuel. Amended by L.1964, c. 21, s. 2.

N.J. Stat. § 51:9-11 Penalties; amount; disposition; municipal attorney to assist in prosecution

Any person violating any of the provisions of this chapter shall, upon conviction thereof, pay a penalty of not less than $50.00 nor more than $100.00, for the first offense, or for failure to forthwith pay such penalty shall be imprisoned in the county jail for a period not exceeding 20 days; and for a second offense, shall, after conviction, pay a penalty of not less than $100.00 nor more than $250.00 and for failure to forthwith pay such penalty shall be imprisoned in the county jail for a period not exceeding 40 days; and for a third or each subsequent offense, shall, after conviction, pay a penalty of not less than $250.00 nor more than $500.00, and for failure to forthwith pay such penalty shall be imprisoned in the county jail for a period not exceeding 60 days. All penalties collected from persons violating the provisions of this chapter shall be paid by the magistrate or court clerk receiving the same, when recovered by the State Superintendent of Weights and Measures, or his assistants, to the State Treasurer; when recovered by a county weights and measures officer, to the county treasurer of such county; and when recovered by a municipal weights and measures officer, into the treasury of the municipality which such officer represents. It shall be the duty of the municipal attorney of any municipality wherein any violation takes place to assist in the prosecution of the same and to assist in the trial of any appeal, where a complaint is made by a municipal weights and measures official and if such municipality has no municipal weights and measures official, the county prosecutor wherein such violation takes place shall assist in such prosecution. Amended by L.1953, c. 48, p. 847, s. 24; 1969, c. 251, s. 33, eff. Jan. 7, 1970.

N.J. Stat. § 51:9-12 Summons or warrant to issue

51:9-12. A complaint having been made to the Superior Court or a municipal court by any weights and measures official, that any person has violated any of the provisions of this chapter, a summons or a warrant may issue directed to any weights and measures official or to any police officer for the appearance or arrest of the person so charged. Amended 1953, c.48, s.25; 1991, c.91, s.485; 2023, c.250, s.46.

N.J. Stat. § 51:9-16 Request to Attorney-General to attend

The county prosecutor of any county, charged with the enforcement of the provisions of this chapter, may request the Attorney-General to attend personally, or by such assistant or assistants, as he shall designate to aid in any appeal which may be taken in any proceeding under this chapter. Amended by L.1953, c. 48, p. 849, s. 29.

N.J. Stat. § 51:9-17 Entitling proceedings

All proceedings for the violation of the provisions of this chapter shall run in the name of the State of New Jersey with the weights and measures official who institutes the proceeding as prosecutor. Amended by L.1953, c. 48, p. 849, s. 30.

N.J. Stat. § 51:9-18 Arrest without warrant

51:9-18. Any police officer, or weights and measures official is hereby authorized to arrest, without warrant, any person violating, in the presence of such police officer, or weights and measures official any of the provisions of this chapter, and to bring the defendant before the Superior Court or a municipal court in the county where such offense is committed. Amended 1953,c.48,s.31; 1991,c.91,s.486.

N.J. Stat. § 51:9-20 Summons or warrant valid throughout State; arrest in county other than where violation occurred; procedure

51:9-20. A summons or warrant issued by any court having jurisdiction in accordance with the provisions of this chapter shall be valid throughout the State, and any officer who has power to serve the said summons, or to serve said warrant and make arrest thereon, in the county where the same shall have been issued, shall have like power to serve said summons and to serve said warrant and make arrest thereon in any of the several counties of the State. If any person shall be arrested for a violation committed in the county other than that in which the arrest shall take place, the person so arrested may demand to be taken before the Superior Court or a municipal court in the county in which the arrest may have been made for the purpose of making a cash deposit or of entering into a recognizance with sufficient surety; whereupon the officer serving the said warrant shall take the person so apprehended before such a court in the county in which the arrest shall have been made, which shall thereupon fix a day for the matter to be heard before the court issuing the said warrant, and shall take from the person apprehended a cash deposit or recognizance to the State of New Jersey with sufficient surety or sureties for the appearance of the said person at the time and place designated. The cash deposit or recognizance so taken shall be returned to the court issuing the warrant, to be retained and disposed of by it as by this chapter provided. Amended 1953,c.48,s.33; 1991.c.91,s.487.

Source: Open US Law by Vaquill AI (CC BY 4.0)URL: https://www.njleg.state.nj.us/legislative-activity/statutesFetched: 10/17/2026